Metal container



March 18, 1947. w, BAYNE 2,417,464

' METAL CONTAINER Filed March 6, 1945 VINVENTOR WILLIAM F. BAYNE ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 18, 1947 METAL CONTAINER William F. Bayne, North Bergen, N. J assignor to Doro-Test Corporation, North Bergen, N. J., a corporation of New York Application March 6, 1945, Serial No. 581,279

This invention relates to improvements in ballast units especially as used with fluorescent lamps;

The broad idea of the invention resides in a structural improvement in ballast units wherein the inductance or choke coil and compensator portion of the entire unit is separated from the capacitor component, and each is enclosed within a separate compartment of a unitary housing spaced to provide distribution of the heat from the choke coils and compensator portions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a housing for the parts of a fluorescent lamp ballast unit to effect distribution of the heat and thereby contribute to a longer life for the condenser.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a ballast unit of this type which is simple and rugged in construction, neat and decorative in appearance, and easy to manufacture and assemble on a quantity basis.

Qther and more detailed objects of the invention will be apparent from the description of the embodiment thereof illustrated in the attached drawings.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will be described in detail below.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the subject matter of this invention with a portion thereof broken away;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a top end elevational view of the unit.

In the manufacture of all forms of fluorescent lighting fixtures it is common practice today to house the choke coils, compensator and condensers comprising the accessories for this type of lighting, in as small a space as possible, and with these parts in close proximity, if not in contact with each other. In the continued use of these lamps the accessories attain quite a high operating temperature, which is sufiiciently high to unduly shorten the life of the parts thereof, and particularly of the capacitor. In accordance with this invention the capacitor is housed in a separate compartment from the other elements of the unit, and the resulting compartments are spaced for air circulation, thus increasing the life of all of the parts thereof by reducing their normal operating temperatures.

As illustrated in the drawings, the entire unit 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-) comprises a base plate l0, preferably of metal, having apertures by means of which it can be attached to a support, and sharply curved side flanges I I by means of which the other portion or hood H! of the housing is slidably attached thereto by complementary channels I3. The hood is provided with four transverse walls I6, i8, 20 and 2t which are of the proper configuration and provided with tabs or short flanges lying against the inner face of the hood and attached thereto in any suitable manner, as by Welding.

The walls l6, l8 and 2| have slots I1, l9 and 22 respectively, adjacent the base plate It], which in turn has the slots !4 and 26. The slot 26 is aligned with the slot I! and provides anopening through which the circuit wires 25 may be readily admitted to the housing.

The walls l6, i8, 20 and 2! divide the housing into two compartments which are longitudinally spaced from each other and the hood at its face region is provided with a plurality of air circulating openings 15, as clearly illustrated in several of the figures.

In'the compartment between the walls It and I8 are diagrammatically illustrated the choke coils, capacitor and/or any other accessories commonly used with fluorescent lamps. In the other compartment is diagrammatically illustrated the capacitor 24 and the units 23 and 24 are shown connected by the circuit wire 26 which passes through the slots [9 and 22 respectively to the capacitor 24.

The choke coil portion 23 is the source of greatest heat in a device of this kind, and being separated from the capacitor 24 which is most deleteriously affected by high temperatures, the capacitor is protected against injurious heating.

The two compartments are spaced and the space between them is exposed to the atmosphere through the openings !5, Thus the two compartments are in effect heat insulated from each other by reason of the circulation of air through the openings 15. In addition, of course, all the various walls of the housing which is preferably made of metal, serve as good heat radiators, so as to maintain a low operating temperature for all of the elements.

.As those skilled in the art will readily understand, the novel subject matter of this invention is not limited to use with fluorescent lamps, nor is it limited to the use of any particular accessory parts, since obviously it could be employed with two or more parts of a complete unit, one

, of which is a source of greater injurious heat to protect the other part, as well as itself. I do not,

I therefore, desire to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given for purposes of illustration, but

rather to the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A housing for fluorescent lamp accessories which generate heat in normal use which must v be dissipated, comprising a base plate, an open ended hood detacliably secured to'said base plate, a pair oi walls closing the open ends of said hood, and a pair of intermediate walls relatively closely spaced and dividingthe space within the hood 4 flanges slidably .engaging'the flanges on said base plate and all of said walls being integrally at tached to said hood, whereby the hood and attached walls can be, slidably disengaged from said base plate.

WILLIAM F. BAYNE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file oiv this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name .Date

2,088,454 Whisk July 2'7, 193'? 2,285,437 Johannson, June 9, 1942 2,134,794 Muth et a1. Nov. 1, 1938 2,100,226 Stenberg Nov. 23, 1937 I 2,057,116 Rubens Oct. 13, 1936 1,962,860 Duell et al June 12, 1934 766,566 V'Jitt Aug. 2, 1904 

